


crux

by skittykitty



Series: New Beginnings [4]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Clay | Dream & Technoblade Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), Dimension Travel, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Misunderstandings, Trust Issues, Unreliable Narrator, but theyre being resolved, their whole friendship is a misunderstanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 18:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30059382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittykitty/pseuds/skittykitty
Summary: Techno and Dream go mining for Netherite together.Techno thinks about friendship, while Dream tries desperately to keep a friend.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: New Beginnings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142408
Comments: 32
Kudos: 100





	crux

**Author's Note:**

> god I love the thing of naming all these fics after things in the sky,,, stars and sun/moon stuff,,, it’s so much fun to find a title for each :))
> 
> Thank you [Cultivation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cultivation/pseuds/Cultivation) for betaing this!!

Dream was hunched over leggings he had spent all night on— all for a trip to the Nether. All for his safety. He had labored and crafted a full diamond set for him and now… what was he even doing now?

His acquaintance— or friend, or  _ whatever  _ he was to Techno— softly removed his glove, revealing his hand. From afar, there didn’t seem anything wrong with it, but as he approached Techno could see the marks of past traumas across his skin.

There was a long, thin scar on the side of his wrist, curling under his armor. Looking at him— really  _ looking  _ for the first time since he’d arrived here, Dream was covered in Netherite more than anyone else on the server. There were no weak points in the armor because he had no need to take it off. 

Techno’s chest plate had an opening on the back for easy removal. Looking at how Dream had welded his leggings and chest plate into one armor piece— well. The man likely didn’t have that gap.

He sighed shakily. Techno could almost see all the violence Dream must have gone through.  _ Talking  _ was hard enough for him— how would he ever be able to deal with fighting people?

Dream was easy. He didn’t demand him to talk during their sparring sessions— just wanted to see him grow.

“What happened to you?” Dream slowly turned from the leggings on his lap, blue paint glowing on the diamonds.

“What?” Dream sounded almost… breathless. If he were a lesser man, Techno would have said he was  _ scared. _

With the mask in place, it would have been impossible to get a read on him normally. Usually, someone’s eyes or the tilt of their mouth said everything about them.

But, Dream was different. His shoulders were hunched in, his fist gripping his leg. His posture screamed of forced relaxation but dually of absolute horror.

“Your scars,” Techno murmured, dark eyes staring at his hands once more. “I wondered if you’d tell me the story behind them.”

Dream wasn’t obvious, per se. He wasn’t  _ easy  _ to read, and it was hard to see the little things in his posture. His armor often hid whatever vulnerability he had to offer. But for now, his hands relaxed.

He turned over his other hand with a chuckle. “Oh.” Techno could hear the smile in his voice as Dream turned to face him. “Well, this hand is uh…” He offered his palm to his friend, letting Techno hold it as he stared at the scar. “I was practicing archery with Bad and Sapnap, right?

“Well, Bad was mainly watching from the side, and Sapnap wanted my attention.” Techno softly moved his thumb across the scar, listening to Dream pause for a moment. “So he— uh— he shot a crossbow near me to get my attention, you know?”

Techno scoffed. “To get your attention? Sounds like a murder attempt.”

“It wasn’t!” Dream sighed. “Well, he didn’t mean it to be. He didn’t exactly aim with multishot in mind and one of the extra arrows was flying toward my head. I ducked, obviously, but my hand rose a bit.” He clenched his hand around Techno’s. “The arrow went through my hand and hit my shoulder.”

“Wow,” Techno murmured. “That’s messed up.” The two of them sat in silence, each pondering questions for one another. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Dream smiled. “I’m glad, too.”

(“I’m glad I met you.” Dream was too scared to say.)

His friend turned back to the leggings, a hand laying upon the blue paint before turning to him once more. “Do you know what I’m doing?”

“No.” Techno smiled. “Of course I don’t.” 

Dream chuckled, “I’m enchanting this for you!” His hands lifted in a half-finished movement. “I’m hoping to get blast protection on all of this, so we can go mining for Netherite together, later!”

Techno smiled, his hand resting over the golden chest plate Dream had given him all those days ago. It had only been maybe three or four days, but so much had changed. 

Maybe, he’d lost something of himself here.

Maybe, Phil’s rejection had shattered him.

But here, with Dream,— with a  _ friend—  _ Techno could finally smile again.

“Can I..?” Techno began, hesitating at the last moment. As seconds passed, Dream turned to him.

“Can you what?”

“Can you enchant the chest plate I already have instead of a new one?” He looked down at his fist, curled around the edge of his chest plate. It meant so little, yet so much. If Dream wouldn’t do it, that would be fine.

It wouldn’t matter.

Dream sighed, reaching towards Techno’s chest. Leaning close, he began to murmur intelligible sounds to himself. One hand traced the armor, while the other stayed on Techno’s shoulder to keep him in place. 

At this point, Techno was almost used to this constant manhandling. This wasn’t even the worst he had done but watching Dream focus completely on his chest plate...

Well— it was nice to have a friend.

“I’m gonna have to put a lot of enchantments on it, but…” Dream looked up at him, his hands fluttering around in excitement. “You’ll keep it, and isn’t that what matters?”

Techno laughed, eyes softening as Dream moved to apply more lapis to the armor.

* * *

The Nether was a terrible place.

Ash filled the sky, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. Even when you couldn’t see, the screams and wails of Piglins and other creatures echoed off the walls, making the blindness nearly a blessing.

Crackles of fire followed the two of them as they walked from the portal. Even without any flames in sight, there was always a fresh gust of smoke in his face. With each inhale, he seemed to lose more and more of his breath. Wheezing, Techno followed behind his friend.

His armor was bright blue in this dark red world. When Dream blended into the darkness, Techno was the light at the end of the tunnel. The first target one could see. 

Techno was the Robin to Dream’s Batman. A dark ominous figure, one who blended into the environment and his sidekick— his trusted confidant— who bore all the attention of his villains.

Robin, who would die.

Robin, who would be  _ replaced. _

“Come on,” Dream muttered, holding his breath. “There’s an entrance nearby, then we” — he coughed into his elbow — “Can get out of the open air.”

He nodded, Dream’s mask blending in with the smoke as tears formed in his eyes. The two of them continued to move, occasionally stopping for a coughing fit.

After some time, Dream began to duck into an entrance near the side of a ledge. Below them— below the small ledge they stood on— was a lava lake. Even with the smoke covering his vision he could see the endless death below him. 

With a shaky sigh, Techno followed Dream into the mine.

* * *

Bed mining was a naturally dangerous method of finding Netherite. There were safer ways, of course, but DreamXD wouldn’t have made beds explode if they didn’t want this to happen.

Plus, it was fun! Being underground mostly got rid of the problem of the smoke and toxic air. Dream could typically bed mine for days on end. There was no one to come back home to, so he never came back.

Up until Techno had shown up, it’d been months since he’d been home. 

Dream scoffed. It couldn’t have been  _ that  _ long, could it? Of course, it couldn’t. The last time he’d been there… when had he been there last? There had been Tommy finding his house, people mining out his floor, and then… L’Manberg.

Wow.

He hadn’t been home since before L’Manberg formed, had he?

Dream sighed, ignoring the tickle in the back of his throat. “I brought a ton of beds,” he began. “We’ll be setting them off intermittently to find Netherite!” 

He smiled, watching for Techno’s reaction. His friend sighed, raising an arm to cough into. Dream chuckled, handing the other a few beds to start with.

“Just mine a bit forward.” Dream pulled out his pick, beginning to tear at the Netherrack. “And then—” He placed the bed, the winds of the explosion knocking him back into Techno. “Place the bed. Simple, right?”

He looked ahead into the hole he created, scanning for debris. Upon finding none, he turned to Techno. “Well, that’s all. You wanna start?”

Techno moved forward, before turning back. “I don’t have a pickaxe.” His friend looked exhausted, with ashes scattered over his face. It was probably from the explosion, but Dream felt bad either way.

“Here.” Dream handed him his personal pickaxe. It could be replaced, he reasoned. It didn’t matter in the face of Techno’s tiny smile upon grasping it.

Nothing mattered in the face of his only friend’s happiness.

Techno seemed… dead to the world, almost. His eyes were dull even as explosions echoed through the tunnel. Luckily, thanks to the enchantments scrawled over his armor, he wouldn’t be hurt by the explosions. As long as he didn’t fall into any lava or fire, he would be fine.

Speaking of— Techno lit off another explosion, being thrown back by the blast. Dream jogged forward to catch his friend.

Dream laughed for a moment, eyes shining with fondness. “You should be more careful,” he murmured. “Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Techno murmured something under his breath.

“What was that?”

There was a long pause as Techno removed himself from his arms. His hands clutched the empty air, missing Techno’s weight. His friend stared at him— at his  _ mask—  _ for a long moment.

“I was wondering what you’re doing with all this Netherite.”

An obvious diversion from his real question, but did Dream really  _ want  _ to know the real question?

_ Why do you care so much? _

_ Why won’t you let me talk to anyone besides you? _

_ Why don’t you give up on being a good person? _

Dream smiled to hide the pain in his eyes. “Well, it’s for you!” Techno stared at him, surprised. “To upgrade your armor, and for weapons!”

“Weapons?”

“I mean,” he paused. “You need weapons—”

Techno cut him off, something between fear and panic in his voice. “I don’t need weapons. I don’t want to hurt  _ anyone.”  _

_ Finally,  _ he thought.  _ Finally a spark in him.  _ It was barely anything, really. It could be put out with a firm  _ you need weapons,  _ but… he’d already put so much into this.

Techno wasn’t even an ember yet; Dream needed to make a forest fire out of him.

“Alright,” Dream agreed with a smile. “I’ll never make you a sword or an axe, as long as…” Techno stared at him, his hand shaking by his side. His eyes screamed of determination, but the way his shoulders were squared whispered of fear. “As long as you stay out of any fights, alright? You see anyone coming with weapons out, you run. Find me, if I’m not already there.”

_ You’ll be safe with me. _

“Alright, Dream.” Techno held out his hand. “It’s a deal.”

* * *

Thousands of explosions and a few dozen ancient debris later, they finally left the Nether. To spare Techno the smoke, Dream opened a new portal to the Overworld. 

The two of them stepped out into fresh air. Dream winced, blinking rapidly to get the smoke out from them. Techno was keeled over, coughing and wheezing on the grass.

Somehow, leaving the Nether was always worse than entering. When you left, your lungs were stung and burnt from the burning air. Fresh, clean air always hurt to breathe for the first few minutes.

“It’s okay,” he croaked. “It’ll pass.”

The two of them sat in the grass, watching the wind toss leaves in the air. It was a nice day to lay out in the leaves with friends, to relax.

Anyone else would be with their loved ones.

Anyone else would tell them how much they  _ cared. _

“We need to get going,” Dream sighed, exhaustion weighing down on him. “It’ll be night soon.”

They were in the middle of nowhere,— without a compass or a map— but Dream would always know how to get home. Well, DreamXD would always know how to get home.

As he pulled Techno to his feet, he felt his feet turned to face the setting sun without his forethought. With a smile, Dream thanked his god as the two of them began to walk home.

They walked through the forest in peace, listening to the quiet sounds of the wildlife. A howl echoed through the forest.

“Do you think I could tame a wolf?” Techno pondered out loud.

“I mean,” Dream murmured. “I don’t have any bones… and there aren’t any untamed wolves near our house.”

Techno chuckled. “It’s alright, I didn’t expect much.”

By the time he noticed Dream had left, he was already returning with a snarling wolf in his arms.

Dream grinned as the wolf snapped its jaws at him. “What do you want to name it?”

“What? Why did you—” Techno laughed in exasperation. “I— Floof? I guess?”

Dream grabbed the wolf’s paw to wave at his friend with. “Hello!” He said in a goofy voice. “My name's Floof, your new best friend!”

Techno laughed as they walked home with his new pet.

Later, Dream would demand all of the weapons he had gifted Techno to be returned.

For now, they joked and laughed... as best friends.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! You can find me on my [tumblr](https://skitter-kitteruwu.tumblr.com/) where you can pester me to finish half-thought out ideas and scream to me about fics!!
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